Thoughts from the Christian perspective: discernment issues as they relate to the current state of the church and society.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Harold Camping - False Prophet and Heretic

Remember back in September 1994 when Harold Camping’s prediction of the Rapture didn’t happen, and rather than admit to be a false prophet he said he made a mistake in what the date meant and that it actually was the end of the church age?

Well, you’d think that since Camping’s Rapture date of May 21, 2011 was also proven to be a false prophesy, that he’d repent of his ways. No, this isn’t the way of a cult leader. A false prophet just makes excuses and gives another date (sort of like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Adventist movement).

Harold Camping now says he wasn’t spiritual enough, which is why his calculations were off. But never fear, he has guaranteed that he has the right date this time, and it is October 21, 2011. So what will happen on October 21? Probably the “Jonah excuse” - God relented because of so many being saved.

The sad thing is that there are so many of his followers who now have ruined lives, having given away or spent all their assets, quit jobs, etc, thinking they would be leaving planet Earth. And yet, like many other cults, my guess is that most of Camping’s followers will accept his excuse and continue to follow him.

An interesting thing to me is the wealth of Camping’s organization. According to OneNewsNow, his assets are “more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.” Again, very typical of cults.

Camping has denied the Trinity, which makes him not only a false prophet, but also a heretic. Let’s pray his followers will finally get some discernment.

I don't know what he has to offer, and that's the rub. He comes across as knowing all the answers, and his style of pretending he finds things in Scripture no one else sees, leads the immature to look up to him for guidance. And that is really true of all false prophets.

Glenn, the other side of this is that Camping's followers have refused to love the truth. Could some be innocent dupes, sure I suppose this is possible. But I would say the majority probably are not. Jesus tells us over and over that many on are on the broad road. He tells us that many will be deceived. We don't like to think this is the case, but as time goes on and these false claims and false teachers continue to mount up, we have to look again at the specifics of what the Bible tells us. The word many shows up over and over again. There will be many false, and they will have many followers. If we know this in advance we won't be unsettled by it but once again see the Lord's goodness and wisdom in warning us.

You could say the same thing about all cult follower; some refuse to hear the truth and others are just dupes (yes there are innocent dupes - I was one when I was proselytized into LDS).

Regardless of which category they are, it is incumbent on Christians to pray for the lost and for believers who are burdened with aberrational beliefs. We are to help the lost turn to the truth by preaching the Word of God, and we are to help those burdened by exposing the false beliefs for what they are. And we should compassion for all.